1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: Hey, history enthusiasts, you get not one, but two events 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:05,800 Speaker 1: in history today. Heads up that you also might hear 3 00:00:05,840 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: two different hosts, me and Tracy V. Wilson. With that said, 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: on with the show Welcome to this day in History 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: Class from how Stuff Works dot Com and from the 6 00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: desk of Stuff you Missed in History Class. It's the 7 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,439 Speaker 1: show where we explore the past one day at a 8 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: time with a quick look at what happened today in history. Hello, 9 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson. In 10 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:35,519 Speaker 1: its January five King Camp Gillette was born on this 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,760 Speaker 1: day in eighteen fifty five. That is definitely the same 12 00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: Gillette that you may have heard of because of Gillette Razors. 13 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,280 Speaker 1: He was born in Wisconsin but raised in Chicago, and 14 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: was something of a tinkerer when he was a young man. 15 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:51,560 Speaker 1: After he started working as a traveling salesman in the 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,320 Speaker 1: eighteen seventies, one of his bosses noticed that he had 17 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,360 Speaker 1: this habit of tinkering with things and made a suggestion 18 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:00,880 Speaker 1: that he tried to invent something that was disposable that 19 00:01:00,920 --> 00:01:03,120 Speaker 1: people would need to buy over and over and over again. 20 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,319 Speaker 1: At the time, people who shaved mostly did so with 21 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: straight razors. You bought a straight razor. Once they lasted 22 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: for a really long time, you'd occasionally hone the razor 23 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,520 Speaker 1: with a wet stone. You would keep it sharp between 24 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,759 Speaker 1: those honings using a leather strap called a strop. There 25 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: are people who still prefer to use straight razors. They 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: still do all that. And there were also other so 27 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: called safety razors that were supposed to be safer because 28 00:01:31,160 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: their blade was encased in a little holder. But these 29 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: weren't disposable and they had to be professionally sharpened. So 30 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,600 Speaker 1: in Gillette was honing a straight razor, and he thought, 31 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,319 Speaker 1: what if instead of this one permanent blade that you 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: had to keep sharp yourself, what if it was a 33 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: pair of blades in a handle that you could throw 34 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: the blades away when they got dull. He described it 35 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:57,279 Speaker 1: this way, quote as I stood there with the razor 36 00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: in my hand, my eyes resting on it, as light 37 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,080 Speaker 1: lie as a bird settling down on its nest, the 38 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: Gillette razor was born. And right from the start he 39 00:02:07,440 --> 00:02:09,679 Speaker 1: had the same plan that is still used today. When 40 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: it comes to disposable razor blades. People's first purchase would 41 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: include the blades and a razor. The razor wasn't the 42 00:02:17,639 --> 00:02:21,399 Speaker 1: money maker, though the company could even afford to take 43 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: a loss on the razor part, because all that profit 44 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 1: was going to be in the disposable blades. Gillette came 45 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: up with this invention in nineteen o one, and he 46 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:34,600 Speaker 1: got a patent on November fifteenth, nineteen o four. An 47 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: engineer named William Nickerson figured out how to mass produce 48 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,240 Speaker 1: the blades. By this point, they had established the Gillette 49 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: Safety Razor Company in Boston, Massachusetts. They made their first 50 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,920 Speaker 1: sale in nineteen o three, about fifty razors and a 51 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty eight blades. By the end of the 52 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: very next year, the company had produced almost ten thousand 53 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:01,240 Speaker 1: razors and more than twelve million blades. World War One 54 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,239 Speaker 1: helped the company with its sales because the US military 55 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: started issuing disposable Gillette razors to soldiers, and they were 56 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 1: required to shave to help make sure their gas masks 57 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: would seal correctly around their faces. The idea of selling 58 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: the razor at a loss because you're going to make 59 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,400 Speaker 1: all that money on razor blades, that became known as 60 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,880 Speaker 1: the razor and blades model, or the loss leader model 61 00:03:25,919 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: of doing business. Gillette died in nineteen thirty two, but 62 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: his later years weren't spent so much on Razors or 63 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,000 Speaker 1: on his company. He was spending them on the idea 64 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: of creating a social utopia. He had published a book 65 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: on that idea called The Human Drift Way back in 66 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,240 Speaker 1: Thanks to Casey Pegraham and Chandler Maze for their audio 67 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,600 Speaker 1: work on this show. You can subscribe to This Day 68 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:52,160 Speaker 1: in History Class on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, the I 69 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, and wherever else to get your podcasts. 70 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: Tomorrow an outstanding storm. Hi everyone, I'm Eves and welcome 71 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: to This Day in History Class, a podcast where we 72 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: dust off a little piece of history and placed it 73 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:24,039 Speaker 1: ever so gently on your brainshelf every day. The day 74 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:30,039 Speaker 1: was January five. Blues and folk musician Elizabeth Cotton was 75 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,560 Speaker 1: born near Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Sources differ on her 76 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: year of birth, with some saying eight and others saying 77 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: Cotton was born into a family steeped in a musical tradition. 78 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: As a child, she often borrowed her brother's instruments, and 79 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: she taught herself to play the banjo and the guitar. 80 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:53,440 Speaker 1: She was left handed, so it was easier for her 81 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: to hold the banjo upside down to play it. When 82 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: her brother left, Cotton had to quit school and take 83 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: jobs as a domestic worker. By the time she was 84 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: eleven or twelve years old, she had saved up enough 85 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: money to buy a Stella demonstrator a guitar for three 86 00:05:08,839 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: dollars and seventy cents. She played the guitar upside down too, 87 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: and developed a unique picking style. She fretted the strings 88 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,280 Speaker 1: with her right hand and picked with her left. By 89 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 1: the time she was a teenager, she was able to 90 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: play several different songs. Cotton often stayed up late at 91 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,279 Speaker 1: night playing the guitar, and her mother would scold her 92 00:05:29,320 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: and tell her to stop playing. As a teen, Elizabeth 93 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,960 Speaker 1: married Frank Cotton. They had one child together not long after, 94 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 1: named Lily. As Elizabeth became busy with family life, she 95 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:45,040 Speaker 1: became more involved in her church. Leaders at her church 96 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:49,120 Speaker 1: urged her to stop playing worldly music. Committed to the 97 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:51,719 Speaker 1: church and busy at home, she put down her guitar 98 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:55,359 Speaker 1: for years. The Cottons lived in New York City for 99 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: a while, but when Lily got married and had a child, 100 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 1: Elizabeth left Frank and moved to Washington, d c. To 101 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: be close to her daughter, she cleaned and sold dolls 102 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 1: at a department store for a living, but one day 103 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:11,640 Speaker 1: in the department store, she found a lost girl named 104 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,760 Speaker 1: Peggy Seeger and returned her to her mother, Ruth Crawford Seeger. 105 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:19,080 Speaker 1: Elizabeth soon began to work in the household of the Seegers, 106 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: who were also a musical family. Ruth was a composer 107 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,880 Speaker 1: and music teacher, and her husband, Charles was an ethno musicologist. 108 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: Cotton would play the guitar at the Seeger home, but 109 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: the family didn't find out about her musical talent until 110 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,479 Speaker 1: a few years after she began working for them. Then, 111 00:06:37,480 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 1: in her sixties, Elizabeth began recording her songs. Those recorded 112 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: songs became the nineteen fifty eight album Folk Songs and 113 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: Instrumentals with Guitar, released on Folk Ways Records. The album 114 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,359 Speaker 1: featured Freight Train, a song that Elizabeth composed when she 115 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: was a child. She had her performing debut at Swarthmore 116 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 1: College with Mike Seeger, Ruth and Charles Son, and she 117 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:05,799 Speaker 1: continued to perform solo and concert and at folk festivals. 118 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 1: She was on the same ticket as performers like Skip 119 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: James and Muddy Waters. And her music became a staple 120 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: of the folk revival of the nineteen sixties. Cotton continued 121 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,600 Speaker 1: playing and touring throughout the US and Europe into the 122 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: nineteen eighties. She played her last show in New York 123 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: City in nine, seven months before her death. I'm Eve 124 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: Stepcote and hopefully you know a little more about history 125 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. You can keep up with 126 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: us on social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 127 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: t d i h C podcast email still works. Send 128 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:44,560 Speaker 1: us a note at this day at i heeart media 129 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: dot com. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. We'll be 130 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: back tomorrow with another one. For more podcasts for my 131 00:07:57,880 --> 00:08:00,560 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 132 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.